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Welcome to the
Techno-Eugenics Email Newsletter
Number 9
June 12, 2000
** Alert: Responding to the Human Genome Sequencing Announcement **
Supporting genetic science in the public interest
Opposing the new techno-eugenics
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This is Issue Number 9 of the Techno-Eugenics Email Newsletter,
as far as we know the only on-line newsletter focused on
the
politics of the new human genetic and reproductive technologies.
If you're receiving this newsletter for the first time, please
see the instructions for subscribing and submitting items
at the
end of this message.
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CONTENTS
I. BREAKING NEWS: HUMAN GENOME SEQUENCING ANNOUNCEMENT IMMINENT
II. A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
III. UPCOMING EVENTS
1. Campaign Against Human Genetic Engineering press briefing
on
the Human Genome Project, June 14, London
2. Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies
on KPFA Morning Show, June 14, Berkeley, CA
3. Technology & Society Committee, July 18, Mountain
View, CA
IV. RECENT EVENT
1. Report on "Enhancing the Human" symposium
V. NEWS AND POINTERS REGARDING TECHNO-EUGENICS
1. RAND study: "Biotechnology and Global Governance"
2. Physicist Freeman Dyson says germline engineering would
lead
to new human species
3. James Watson endorses scientists "playing God"
4. "Technocalypse" -- Dutch television on post-human
genetics
VI. ABOUT THE TECHNO-EUGENICS EMAIL NEWSLETTER
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I. BREAKING NEWS: Human genome sequencing announcement imminent
Announcement of the effective completion of the human genome
nucleotide
sequence is expected sometime this week.
BBC News Online recently reported that the two competing human
genome
efforts, by the National Institutes of Health and Celera Genomics,
Inc.,
may have agreed to issue a joint announcement.
See <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_780000/780865.stm>.
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II. A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
The effective completion of the human genome sequence by the
NIH and
Celera will ignite extensive media speculation over its potential
applications. There is little question that knowledge gained
from the
Human Genome Project can be applied in ways that may contribute
to human
well-being. But there is also little question that other applications,
such as human germline modification, could have dire social consequences
and lead to a horrific future.
The challenge before us is to communicate the risks as well
as the
benefits of particular applications of human genetic technologies;
to
demonstrate that clear and enforceable lines can be drawn between
what
should and should not be allowed; and to insist that such decisions
be
made not by small numbers of scientists or policy makers, but
by an
engaged citizenry.
Getting this message out is important because, as readers of
this news-
letter are aware, a concerted effort is underway to make the case
that
the genetic engineering of human beings is an inevitability.
In the days following the announcement of the genome sequencing
we will
all have opportunities to convey an important message--when possible
to the media; also to colleagues and wider networks. The message
is that
we need to decide which applications of genetic knowledge to allow
and
which to prohibit, and that modifying the genes we pass to our
children
is a clear example of an application that needs to be prohibited.
A network of scientists, health workers, activists, scholars,
students
and others have begun holding meetings to discuss what needs to
be done
to get such a message across to key constituencies and the public.
If
you think you might want to play a role in this, contact
<rhayes@publicmediacenter.org>.
Sincerely,
Marcy Darnovsky
Richard Hayes
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III. UPCOMING EVENTS
1. Campaign Against Human Genetic Engineering press briefing
on the
Human Genome Project, June 14, London
In anticipation of an announcement that the human genome has
been
sequenced, public interest groups in Britain and the U.S. are
working
to inject political and social perspectives into media coverage.
The London-based Campaign Against Human Genetic Engineering
(CAHGE)
will convene a panel of experts for a press briefing on June 14.
"In
the excitement about the medical and scientific revolution, vital
ethical
and social issues are being swept under the carpet," says
the invitation
to the briefing. "Many people are concerned that the HGP
may usher in
new forms of discrimination and ultimately, a return of eugenics."
"Dr. Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical
Ethics,
will argue that the HGP will not help the vast majority of humanity.
The main determinants of health are social and environmental...
"Dr. Margaret Llewellyn of Sheffield University will examine
the
commercial incentives behind human genetics research and the drive
to patent human genes. Does this serve the interests of patients
and
of science and do we want a small number of companies to control
the
future of medicine?...
"Agnes Fletcher, of the Royal Association for Disability
and Rehabilita-
tion, will look at the potential eugenic implications of the new
genetic
knowledge. For the near future the only application of genetic
informa-
tion will be in prenatal or pre-implantation genetic testing.
Will this
give rise to a new consumer eugenics which attempts to eliminate
disabled
people?...
"Dr. David King of CAHGE will argue that the proliferation
of genetic
tests and the proposed UK gene bank poses threats to privacy and
will
lead to genetic discrimination in insurance and employment."
The CAHGE web site is <http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~cahge>.
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2. Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies
on KPFA
Morning Show, June 14, Berkeley, CA
Claire Cummings, KPFA's food and farming editor, will interview
represen-
tatives of the Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic
Technologies
on the KPFA Morning Show between 8:30 and 9:00 am on June 14.
KPFA,
based in Berkeley, CA, broadcasts at 94.1 FM.
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3. Technology and Society Committee, July 18, Mountain View, CA
A forum on the new human genetic technologies will be hosted
by the
Technology and Society Committee (TASC) on Tuesday, July 18, from
11:45 am to 1:00 pm. The lunch and forum, open to the public,
take
place at the Golden Wok Asian restaurant at 895 Villa Street,
in
downtown Mountain View, CA. Marcy Darnovsky, of the Exploratory
Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies, will speak.
TASC is a group of engineers, scientists, computer professionals,
other
workers in technology-related fields, and other citizens in the
Santa
Clara Valley, who share a common concern about the social consequences
of technology. TASC seeks to promote a greater public accountability
and responsibility for social impacts of technology and technological
change.
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IV. RECENT EVENT
1. Report on "Enhancing the Human" symposium
About 80 people attended the May 21 "Enhancing the Human"
symposium at
UCLA, co-organized by Gregory Stock's pro-germline engineering
Program on
Medicine, Technology and Society (PMTS) and by the Goethe-Institut.
The
event featured Stock; John Campbell, also of PMTS; German post-humanist
philosopher Peter Sloterdijk; Daniel Kevles, author of History
of Eugenics;
Gregory Benford, a physicist, science fiction writer, and libertarian;
and
Paul Billings, of Council for Responsible Genetics and GeneSage.
Of the panel members, Stock, Campbell, and Sloterdijk endorsed
the view
that human germline enhancements are both inevitable and desirable,
that the "free market" is the way to make them available,
and that the
resulting inequalities would be acceptable. According to Billings--the
only critic of human germline engineering among the speakers--much
of the
audience seemed to agree.
Billings' talk was titled "Zeus's Revenge: Myths, Moxie
and Human Genetic
Enhancement." "Zeus's Revenge," he explained,
was Pandora. Among the
myths he tried to dispel were the notions that germline manipulations
can
be achieved without serious problems for the developing child,
and that
the use of such procedures would not drastically enhance divisions
among
the haves and have-nots. Billing also pointed out that the people
most
likely to be "enhanced" out of existence--minorities
and disabled--were
not present in the audience.
"Moxie," he said, referred to playing on the emotions
of people with
illnesses, and the special regard in which medicine is held, to
cover
a political ideology--an attempt by a group of experts to control
the
outcomes of individuals' development.
Sloterdijk's talk, which he delivered both at UCLA and at a
May 19
symposium at Harvard University, was called "The Operable
Human."
It is available on-line at <www.goethe.de/uk/bos/enpslot2.htm>.
A brief report on the symposium, and audio video clips, are
available
at <http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts/Goethe-Institu.htm>.
For more on PMTS, see <http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts/>.
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V. NEWS AND POINTERS REGARDING TECHNO-EUGENICS
1. RAND study: "Biotechnology and Global Governance"
At the request of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA),
RAND has recently completed a 125-page report titled "Information
and
Biological Revolutions: Global Governance Challenges." Francis
Fukuyama
and Caroline S. Wagner prepared the report and convened the 1998-1999
study group on which it is based.
A summary,focusing on human genetic technologies, was published
in imP
magazine (November 1999) as "Biotechnology and Global Governance."
There, Fukuyama and Wagner write that "[in] the early part
of the 21st
century,...human genetic manipulation and bioinformatics...[will]
amplify
human capabilities so significantly and so profoundly that they
stand to
fundamentally alter the very notion of what we think of as human....[T]he
level of control that is in the hands of the individual makes
social
governance much more complex than is the case with technologies
[such as
nuclear technology] that require collection action to build, use,
or
maintain....It is useless..to think about governance except in
an inter-
national context."
Fukuyama and Wagner argue that a "top-down or positivist
approach...will
not work." So strong is their antipathy to government regulation
that
they propose "citizen councils" and non-governmental
organizations as
appropriate governance bodies.
For the summary: <http://www.cisp.org/imp/november_99/11_99wagner.htm>.
For the full report: <http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1139>.
CHECK URL.
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2. Physicist Freeman Dyson says germline engineering would
lead
to new human species
Speaking at a May 16 ceremony in which he was awarded the Templeton
Prize for Progress in Religion, Princeton physicist Freeman Dyson
warned that human germline engineering "could cause a splitting
of
humanity into hereditary castes."
In a public address at the Washington National Cathedral, Dyson
said,
"Wealthy parents will be able to buy what they consider superior
genes
for their babies...Within a few generations, the children of rich
and
poor could become separate species."
The Templeton Foundation has supported theologians who advocate
human germline engineering, and programs to educate theologians
on
the benefits of "free markets." But Dyson argued that
biotechnology
demands government regulation. "No matter how strongly we
believe
in the virtues of a free market economy," he said, "the
free market
must not extend to human genes."
See "Physicist envisions 'hereditary castes,'" The
Washington Times,
<http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-20005170138.htm>.
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3. James Watson endorses scientists "playing God"
At the annual meeting of the British all-party Parliamentary
and
Scientific Committee held in mid-May, James Watson argued that
there
is nothing intrinsically wrong with the idea of scientists "playing
god" by manipulating the human genome. Watson rejected criticism
of
human germline engineering by asking, "[I]n all honesty,
if scientists
don't play god, who will?"
<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Science/2000-05/dna170500.shtml>.
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4. "Technocalypse" -- Dutch Television on post-human genetics
Dutch TV recently aired a two-part series on genetic engineering
called
"Technocalypse." Among those featured were prominent
"post-humanists"
including Max More, president of the Extropy Institute (a libertarian
group that promotes human germline enhancement and cryogenics);
Ray
Kurzweil, who argues that "non-biological intelligence ultimately
will
become dominant" over humans; and Hans Moravec, who believes
that
"once the level of computer competence [has] risen beyond
the best
human engineers, then there won't be any human engineers there
will
be robotic or computer engineers."
A web site with images and lengthy transcripts from the television
shows is at <http://www.omroep.nl/ikon/technocalypse/>.
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VI. ABOUT THE TECHNO-EUGENICS EMAIL NEWSLETTER
This newsletter stems from the work of academics, activists,
and
others in the San Francisco Bay Area who are concerned about the
direction of the new human genetic technologies.
We support technologies that serve the public interest. We
oppose
those--including human germline engineering and human cloning--that
foster inequality, discrimination, objectification, and the
commodification of human genes and tissues.
This newsletter is intended to alert and inform concerned individuals
about the new technologies and the techno-eugenic vision. For
at
least the next several months, the newsletter will be irregular
(a couple times a month), informal, and non-automated. We'd welcome
feedback, and suggestions about focus and format. A web site
will
be coming soon.
Marcy Darnovsky will moderate. Send submissions to her via
the email
address below.
Unless we hear from you, we'll keep you on this list. Please
let us
know if you don't want to receive the newsletter---we won't feel
rejected! On the other hand, feel free to forward it to others
who
may be interested, and encourage them to subscribe by reply to
Marcy.
If you're a new subscriber, let us know if you'd like to receive
back issues.
Marcy Darnovsky, Ph.D. Richard Hayes, M.A.
teel@adax.com rhayes@publicmediacenter.org